Mum caught drink-driving with four kids in car the day after a party

Shots: King was twice the limit after drinking the night before (Image: Manchester Evening News Syndication)

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A mum arrested for drink-driving with her four children in the car said she was over the limit because she'd knocked back shots the night before.

Tara King, 32, was caught speeding along Tartan Street in Manchester, close to a primary school, magistrates were told.

She told the Manchester Evening News the conviction had ruined her life - and warned people who think they're safe to drive hours after getting drunk to "watch out"

Police smelled booze on King's breath when they pulled her over. She was made to take a roadside test which found her to be twice the legal limit. She admitted she had been drinking heavily the previous evening.

Prosecutor Subhanur Chowdhury told Manchester Magistrates’ Court: “An aggravating feature is that she had her four children aged 14, eight, seven and three in the car with her.”

She was disqualified for three years and ordered to attend a drivers’ impaired by alcohol programme of 35 sessions after she admitted driving with excess alcohol.

Magistrates also ordered her to pay £85 costs and a £60 surcharge.

King was been at the party of a friend who was emigrating to Australia the night before her arrest on October 6.

She told the M.E.N how she knew she would probably still be the worse for wear the next day and so had made plans to get the children to school.

King explained: “My partner was babysitting that night and I made arrangements for him to take the children to school in the morning.

“There are lots of people who drive in the morning after they have had a drink, but I didn’t do that. I knew I would probably be hung over in the morning, so I didn’t drive. I didn’t get up until 2pm and I felt fine.

“I just didn’t think I was over the limit. I think it was because of the shots that I had. I’m not that big. I didn’t think I would fail the test. Not a chance. So I complied with everything they asked. The prosecutor said I was driving stupidly, but I wasn’t. I would say to people, just watch out. Be careful. It ruins your life. It’s ruined mine. I will need to move house now to be nearer to the children’s school.”

Part-time student King of Sandyhill Road, Blackley, was convicted of a similar offence in 2001.

The magistrates told her: “If this happens again, it’s odds on that you will go to prison.”